Orrin G. Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, died on Saturday at the age of 88. He was a mainstay in Utah politics for more than four decades. His death was confirmed by his foundation in a statement that did not mention a reason.

        He was a hard conservative on most economic and social issues, although he worked with Democrats on subjects ranging from stem cell research to disability rights to increasing children's health insurance multiple times over his lengthy tenure. He also made cross-partisan connections, notably with the late Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

        Hatch also fought for conservative causes including abortion restrictions and helped define the Supreme Court, notably defending Justice Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings against sexual harassment claims.

        Later, he became a close supporter of Republican President Donald Trump, using his position as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to push through a substantial overhaul of the US tax system to Trump's desk. In exchange, Trump aided Hatch in delivering on a crucial priority for Utah Republicans, a contentious effort to substantially reduce the size of two national monuments proclaimed by previous presidents.

        Hatch stepped down in 2019. Despite Trump's encouragement, the longstanding senator would have faced a difficult primary struggle and had sworn to retire if he ran again. Instead, Hatch stood aside and urged Republican Mitt Romney, a long-time adversary of the former president, to run for president. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader and a Kentucky Republican, hailed Hatch's legislative prowess.

        In a statement, McConnell said, "Orrin's decades of leadership fueled an infinite array of big legislative victories and landmark confirmations." "In the 1970s, when the contemporary conservative movement was in its infancy, he entered the Senate as a young principled conservative. He lived by his values throughout his career, applying them to topics like the historic 2017 tax reform package and the work of the Judiciary Committee to the country's great advantage."

        Hatch also had a side career as a singer and recording artist who specialized in songs with themes related to his religious faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His wife, Elaine, and their six children survive him.

        Hatch was elected to the Senate in 1976 and went on to become the state's longest-serving senator, gaining a seventh term in 2012. When Republicans won control of the Senate in 2015, he was named Senate President Pro Tempore. After then-Vice President Joe Biden and the Speaker of the House, he was placed third in the presidential succession. He has the second-longest term of any Republican senator, after just a few Democrats.

        Hatch's position on abortion, which put him at the center of one of the country's most divisive topics, was one he returned to over the course of his career. He was the creator of a number of "Hatch amendments" to the Constitution intended at limiting abortion access.

        He rose to prominence in 1991 as one of Thomas's most outspoken supporters in the face of sexual harassment claims leveled by law professor Anita Hill. Hatch spoke aloud from "The Exorcist" at the confirmation hearings, implying that Hill plagiarized from the novel.

        Hatch, while certainly conservative, had disagreements with many of his conservative colleagues, including then-President George W. Bush, when Hatch campaigned for public support of embryonic stem cell research. Hatch joined Kennedy in supporting a $24 billion program for states to give health insurance to low-income children who do not qualify for Medicaid in 1997.

        In a statement, Hatch Foundation chairman A. Scott Anderson stated, "He epitomized a generation of parliamentarians brought up on the ideas of comity and compromise, and he personified those principles better than anybody." "In a divided country, Orrin Hatch demonstrated a better way by developing lasting connections on both sides of the aisle. We would do well to follow his example now more than ever."

        Hatch also aided in the passage of legislation toughening child pornography laws and making illicit music downloads a felony. The music-download issue was a personal one for Hatch. He was a member of the Mormon church, and in his leisure time, he penned devotional hymns and recorded music to unwind from the strains of life in Washington. In 2005, Hatch made $39,000 in royalties from his songs.

        After featuring on "WOW Hits 2005," a Christian pop music compilation, one of his tracks, "Unspoken," went platinum. Hatch ran for President of the United States in 2000, claiming to have more Washington expertise than his opponents and the ability to deal with Democrats. Hatch openly admitted that his chances of winning were little to none. After receiving barely 1% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses, he dropped out of the campaign and backed George W. Bush.

        After withdrawing from early bipartisan negotiations on the legislation, he became a vocal opponent of President Barack Obama's 2009 health-care plan. "It's 2,074 pages long," he observed of the law at one point. It's plenty to make you puke."

        In 2012, Hatch faced a challenging re-election fight against a conservative contender, two years after a tea party wave swept away longtime Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett. Bennett and Hatch both voted in support of a financial rescue in 2008, which enraged the radical right.

        Hatch spent roughly $10 million on his 2012 campaign and worked hard to win over tea party Republicans. Hatch was used to putting up a fight, having learned to box as a kid in Pittsburgh to defend himself against larger, older peers. He stated he was not scared to fight and that he made it a point to rapidly become friends with individuals with whom he had disagreements.

        "Every good boxer knows when to hang up the gloves," Hatch remarked on announcing his decision not to run for re-election in 2018. Hatch – a former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — campaigned for his first public office in 1976, barely defeating Democratic Sen. Frank Moss, after migrating to Utah in the early 1970s.

        In 1982, he defeated Democratic mayor of Salt Lake City Ted Wilson to win a second term by a large majority. He was never really tested after that.

        Orrin Grant Hatch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1934 to a carpenter and a plaster lather. In 1957, he married Elaine Hanson and in 1959, he received his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Legal in 1962 and worked as a partner in the Thomson, Rhodes, and Grigsby law firm in Pittsburgh until 1969. He then became a partner at Hatch & Plumb in Salt Lake City.

        Brent, Marcia, Scott, Kimberly, Alysa, and Jess are his six children.